Sunday, September 11, 2016

N spent Sat. trying to revive/repair our dryer. After several hours, we decided it was time to replace it. (I deleted the curmudgeonly remarks about how appliances don't last like they used to.) Home Depot & Lowe's both had sales. We drove to Home Depot first. The back area of store was empty of employees. Irritated and unwilling to seek out help, we went to Lowe's. An easy decision when we remembered how the Salem Lowe's appliance employees have gone the extra mile for us in the past.

Despite both employees being busy, we received excellent customer service. They were out of the model we wanted, but called (& called & called) Albany to have one put on hold for us. "It's a gorgeous new store!" We made the drive down, happy to know we'd have a dryer in time to do some laundry on Sunday. It is a beautiful store. However, once we walked in, we soon realized that the employees weren't making eye contact at all. Most were walking to or from the break room or looking at their smart phones. We navigated our way back to the well marked appliance area, Not a customer or employee in sight.

I began to scan the aisles in the vicinity and saw an older woman putting things back on the shelves. I called out a greeting to her and she came over to help us out with the transaction. Even though she seemed unfamiliar with all of the required steps on the computer, she stuck with it and escorted us to the front where we completed the transaction at the cash register. The young clerk at the cash register may have spoken 2 words to us and pulled her phone out of her pocket when the transaction was over.

We waited and waited: Used the restroom, flipped through some magazines, checked our phones, chatted. I was hungry and getting impatient. We went over to the customer service area. There was a young clerk sitting in front of a computer looking at her smart phone. I called out a greeting to her to get her attention. She repeated to us that the dryer would indeed be brought up to the front of the store. We waited another 15 minutes before a young man appeared with the box on a cart.

The next morning, N began the process of installation. He went to attach the new cord we had been handed by the appliance employee--wrong cord. How can two stores be completely different in the level of customer service? New and beautiful doesn't count in my book.

Thursday, September 1, 2016

"How is it possible to be with people you love and love being w, only to be broadsided by overwhelming waves of sadness during visit?"

And an insightful friend responded:

"I think the sad with the happy is an important life balance. We're always going to morn what was missed, lost or changed."

And waves of sadness is what it felt like--being knocked down unexpectedly, water threatening to cascade down my face, the air knocked out of me. I tried turning towards the scenery the first time, but my oldest sister couldn't help but comment. Then I had to expose my wet, blotchy face to them all.

On the ride home, my phone alerted me to a text from my older sister. She wanted to be sure no one had said anything hurtful to me. And all I could do was type: "Yeah, what the hell was that?" and share the tweets up above.

I used to regurgitate and analyze until any possible meaning was long gone, but when I read Jodi's response it made complete sense. Who knew there was such a thing as Twerapy?

Carolyn Hax

"Yet no matter how desperate you are for an ideal outcome, you're still stuck without any control over anything except:1. Your actions;2. Your reaction to others' actions;3. Your ability to articulate what you want while respecting the boundaries set out by 1 and 2. "

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About Me

N is retired and K works in kindergarten. N plays in the Willamette Valley Community Band. K spends her free time creating on the computer, reading and being amused by the birds in the backyard.
Restaurants we frequent most often: Word of Mouth Bistro, Venti's, Sassy Onion, Amadeus, Andaluz.